Why Judgment Comes to Humanity

KEY VERSE: “Behold the eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth.” —Amos 9:8

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Amos 1:1, 3, 4, 11, 12

IN THE early part of this prophecy of Amos, the Lord tells of his overruling interest in the affairs of various leading nations contemporary with Israel at the time Amos lived. He describes them as sinful nations, detailing some of the atrocious and inhumane acts they had committed, and states that their future was limited to the time when the Lord would cut them off forever and destroy them because of their sins. The Scriptures indicate that eventually this will be the case with all the nations of this present evil world.

The prophecy further states, however, that there is one exception—the nation of Israel. We are given to understand that this exception is made, not because Israel was any less sinful than other nations. As a matter of fact, most of the prophecy of Amos is a scathing denouncement of Judah and Israel, and their disdain for the principles of God’s law: “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his commandments, and their lies cause them to err.”—Amos 2:4

Concerning Israel, he wrote, “They sold the righteous for silver, and poor for a pair of shoes,” indicating their deliberate neglect of the principles of the Sabbath, and the equity and justice for the poor of their people which that arrangement was to provide.—Amos 2:6; 8:4-6

It was this predominantly sinful kingdom that for centuries perpetuated such conditions in Israel which was to be cut off and destroyed. The full text reads: “Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saying that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.”—Amos 9:8

The ‘house of Jacob’ is a reference to the Jewish people themselves, the descendants of Jacob through his twelve sons. The scripture states that this peculiar ethnic identity would be preserved, even though their national identity as it then existed would be destroyed. Thus was foretold a phenomenon of history that was unique to the Jewish people. Many years later they were utterly destroyed as a nation, and the people scattered; yet, unlike every other destroyed nation, they preserved their identity as a separate people, and did not mix or blend with the world in general.

The prophecy of Amos asserts that it would be the Lord who would cause this to happen: “Lo I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” (vs. 9) Thus the Lord shows his continued supervision over the affairs of his people, and specifically expresses the fact that for a long period of time he would not allow them to take root in the earth and grow again into a nation.

The closing verses of this prophecy assure them, however, that in due time the Lord would cause this dispersed condition to end, saying he would gather them from their captivity, and plant them in their land where they would take root and sprout up as a new nation. “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet [new] wine.”—Amos 9:13

This scripture declares it was the Lord’s purpose for this scattered seed, which for centuries was not allowed to sprout, in due time to have a field prepared and to be planted again. The remaining verses of the prophecy describe how, with this regathering, the land of Israel is made a productive homeland for the Jews, from which they will not again be removed.

Other prophecies of the Bible inform us that the reestablishment of Israel precedes the coming kingdom of Christ on earth, which will appoint the resurrected ancient prophets as representatives, and from this geographic focal point the righteous rule of the Millennial Age will extend throughout all the earth. Thus all the kingdoms or governments of this present evil world, through the consent of the people, will give way to a universal government possessing the ability to establish righteousness and peace worldwide.—Mic. 4:1-5

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